Reflex action game device



Aug. 8, 1961 P. N. NELSON REFLEX ACTION GAME DEVICE Filed Oct. 29, 1958 l l l l ll l I INVENTOR. PERM/1. At N54 :o/v

United States Patent 2,995,371 REFLEX ACTION GAME DEVICE Permil N. Nelson, Galesburg, 111., assignor to Lynn H. Ewing, doing business as Blackhawk Company, Rock Island, 111.

Filed Oct. 29, 1958, Ser. No. 770,452 3 Claims. (Cl. 273- 1) My invention relates to games, and more particularly to a game of skill, entertainment and amusement.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a game which consists of a tube and a stick slidable therein by gravity, the tube being pliable and capable of being compressed near one end to hold the sliding stick at or near an exact desired spot.

A further object of the invention is to provide a game of skill of the type described which will demonstrate the alertness or reflex action of the player.

A further object of the invention is to provide a game of the type shown which is easily and simply made and can be played by children or adults.

Other objects and advantages will be more apparent from the following description wherein reference is had to the accompanying sheet of drawings, upon which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the game being held in the hand;

FIG. 2 is a similar side elevational view showing how the game stick has dropped down through the tube until its descent has been arrested by pressure against the tube;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a similar cross-sectional view taken on the line 44 of FIG. 2 showing how the tubular member is compressed to frictionally contact the rod or game stick.

As hereinbefore indicated, the game may consist of a tubular member 14 made of any suitable compressible material and a game stick upon which the tube is mounted, the tube being of larger diameter than the cross sectional area of the game stick so that the same can he slid up or down in the tube at will.

The game stick 10 may be provided at each end with a head portion such as the circular head portions [[2 at the upper and lower ends of the same, and have graduation marks confining the areas 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d and 10e near one end of the stick, the numerals 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 being preferably placed just above the graduation marks at the ends of these areas.

The game is comparatively simple to explain and play, but I have found that great skill and fast reflex action affect the scoring ability of the player. The game is played by holding the tube in one hand between the fingers and the thumb, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, compressing the circular tubular member 14 in this area so that frictional contact is made by the sides 14a and 14b to stop further dropping of the stick through the tube by the force of gravity.

A player may, for example, be given three chances to let the stick drop, attempting to grasp it so that the upper end of the tube will be adjacent one of the higher scoring areas, as the space 10c where the count is 25. If the grasping is not done before the upper edge of the tube 14 hits the head piece 12 attached to the upper end of the stick, the player scores zero; otherwise he scores the amount indicated by the numeral in the area in which the stick is brought to a stop. For example, in FIG. 2 the player has scored 20, and of course the person scoring the highest number of points in a given number of chances wins the game.

Both the stick 10 and the tube 14 are preferably made of plastic since it is an easy material to work with, and the heads 12 may be fastened on the ends of the Stick 10 by Patented Aug. 8, 1961 dipping the same in acetate and then pressing them in the holes provided in the heads. The tubular member 14 is made sufiiciently pliable so that it can be compressed to the cross-sectional area shown innumerable times, promptly returning to its original shape when such pressure is released. To make the game unit more attractive, the tubes 14 are provided in various colors so that where team play is desired, each team can select a color.

While I have illustrated and described a specfic embodiment of the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made in the exact details shown and I do not wish to be limited in any particular; rather What I desire to Secure and protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A game of skill comprising a stick, a deformable tubular holder on said stick, said stick being normally freely movable by gravity in relation to said holder, stop members on said stick to limit the relative movement between said holder and stick, said holder comprising finger grip means subject to deformation under finger pressure to urge portions of said holder into face to face frictional contact with said stick, release of finger pressure on said holder permitting the stick to drop through said holder when said stick is held in upright position whereupon reapplied finger pressure again causes the holder to grip and stop the movement of said stick, said stick having graduated indicia marks thereon, and said holder providing a structural reference edge coordinated with said marks to establish a given reading according to the stopped position of the holder along the length of the stick.

2. A game of skill comprising an elongated rod constructed from noncompressible material and having a cross sectional area that is uniform throughout the length of the rod, said rod having enlarged stops thereon, finger grip means on said rod between said stops comprising a tubular member whereby to hold said rod in an upright position, said rod normally being freely movable by gravity through said tubular member, and said tubular member being constructed from deformable material subject to bodily deformation to grasp surface portions of the rod under pressure applied to the member by the fingers to interrupt the relative motion of the rod through the tubular member at a selective position with respect to the tubular member.

3. A game of skill comprising an assembly of two members, one member being a rigid rod, the other member providing a finger grip sleeve of deformable material loosely receiving the rod therethrough, said rod being movable by gravity with respect to said sleeve, and said sleeve comprising means to hold the assembly in a generally upright position and to frictionally grasp the rod under finger pressure to prevent relative movement between said members, release of finger pressure on the sleeve permitting said rod to gravitationally move downwardly through said sleeve until reapplication of finger pressure on said sleeve, said members together including cooperative numerical indicia and structural reference portions whereby to obtain comparative informative readings bearing a predetermined relation to the relative stopped positions of said rod and sleeve.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,677,463 Snedeker July 17, 1928 2,443,354 Johnson June 15, 1948 2,572,752 Ostrander Oct. 23, 1951 2,669,087 Bredimus et a1 Feb. 16, 1954 2,807,117 Davies Sept. 24, 1957 2,834,597 Ylinen May 13, 1958 

